A Photo-taking NIGHTMARE!

[Roanoker]

Very nice!

[MidWestSider]

I didn't know there was such a thing. I could have used one inside the Nelson. Where can I get it? (Be generic. I'm in Roanoke, VA.) 

2 cheapies from Wolf camera:

Wolf $3.99
Wolf $9.99

[Roanoker]

2 cheapies from Wolf camera:

http://a1672.g.akamai.net/7/1672/116/20 ... 660447.jpg

Thanks! I see from the image link that Ritz Camera has it. That's where I got my Nikon D70. I'll pay them a visit.

'Preciate it!

[kard]

Thanks! I see from the image link that Ritz Camera has it. That's where I got my Nikon D70. I'll pay them a visit.

'Preciate it!

If you have an SLR then you might want to ask about the weight of it on the mini tripods.  They can get pretty heavy with the lenses.

[AllThingsKC]

2 cheapies from Wolf camera:

Wolf $3.99
Wolf $9.99

Ok, I am going to have to get one of those.

[Roanoker]

If you have an SLR then you might want to ask about the weight of it on the mini tripods.  They can get pretty heavy with the lenses.

Yes! I read this about the lesser priced tripod: "Three stiff but flexible legs will hold any compact/zoom camera out there and give you a versatile table (or rock) top camera holder." The word, "compact" jumped out.

The $10 version said this: "Length: 5 3/8" folded, 8" Extended" and "Universal Tripod Mount." So I figured it might be substantial enough to support the SLR and its heavy lens. Probably not. 

What I really want is a normal tripod with all-the-way-to-the-ground legs that will fold up into a very small, lightweight, easy to carry package. The camera alone is heavy enough to be dragging along on hikes through tight, winding, slot canyons.

Thanks for the heads-up!

[advocrat]

Night shots can be tricky and, because most are time exposures, require a very steady hand and mount. And no heavy vibrations. One suggestion I offer about nightime shots is that many pictures will look better if not taken in the dead of night.  There can be too much darkness and unless you are trying to create an effect with that, a dusk shot, with night lights and some surrounding fill in light makes for beautiful and striking pictures. 

[staubio]

I'm not expert, but I'd suggest a few things:

Keep in mind that a flash is intended to illuminate your subject.  If you are trying to take a picture of the skyline, you aren't going to light it up with your flash.  Flashes have a very finite range.  I always laugh when people are at Skies taking flash photos as they are going to end up with a pile of photos of light reflecting off of glass.

Now, in order to compensate for the lack of light, your camera has a few things that it can adjust.  ISO, apeture and shutter speed. 

ISO is the light sensitity of the medium.  In the film days, it is the 100/200/400 rating on film.  The higher the number, the less light needed to expose but the grainier the photo.  My old digital camera can only go to 400 and photos look horrible, so some of your results might be from your camera forcing itself into that low quality setting to compensate for the lack of light.

Apeture is the size of the lens opening.  Depending on the camera, you might have a couple of options.  The wider the opening, the more light let in but the less depth of field your shot will have.  On an SLR, a wide opening is the trick photographers use to blur the background behind their subjects in intense shots. 

Shutter speed is how long the shutter is held open.  The longer it is open, the more motion it will pick up, so as others have said, you basically must have a tripod.  This is how you get the burned in lights and streaks from moving cars and such.  You can come up with some neat tricks on this.

Most cameras will adjust much of this automatically.  You can also use a program mode that will give you different combinations of settings that will give you a good picture.  Otherwise, experiment with setting things manually to see how each change impacts your result.  That is part of the fun!

[riebschlager]

the EXIF data says that your camera used an exposure bias of 7... which is probably why what's supposed to be black in the photos is dark blue/grey.  so if your camera has some "exposure" setting that probably goes from -7 to 7, try to keep it around 0.

night pictures are tough, just keep practicing!

[AllThingsKC]

Thank you everyone for your advice!  Please keep it coming, if needed because I am able to buy another camera.  I want to make sure I get the perfect one for what I want!

the EXIF data says that your camera used an exposure bias of 7... which is probably why what's supposed to be black in the photos is dark blue/grey.  so if your camera has some "exposure" setting that probably goes from -7 to 7, try to keep it around 0.

My camera only goes from +3 to -3. 

night pictures are tough, just keep practicing!

I hope I get the hang of it one of these days... 

[Roanoker]

I discovered by accident that pictures of flowers and faces (well, I guess anything) taken at night with a normal flash come out remarkably good. The subjects do have to be close enough, of course.